While neither handset is quite as lust-worthy as the eventual XPERIA X3, the Sony Ericsson Aino and Satio are both expected to launch next month across the pond. Sony Ericsson has reportedly issued a save the date invite for a press event to be held in the UK. According to reports, the event will take place on October 7th and will “celebrate the retail launch of Sony Ericsson’s hotly anticipated Satio and Aino handsets.” As such, it stands to reason that both handsets can be expected on or shortly after that date. As you’ll recall, the Aino is a portrait slider featuring quad-band GSM/EDGE and tri-band WCDMA, a 0-9 keypad, 3-inch 240×432 pixel touchscreen, 8.1 megapixel camera with an LED flash and 16x digital zoom, aGPS, Bluetooth, social networking integration, microSDHC and PS3 integration. The slightly more desirable Satio is a full touchscreen handset with a 3.5-inch 640 x 360 display (16:9 aspect ratio), 12.1 megapixel camera with auto-focus, xenon flash and 12x digital zoom, 128 MB internal memory, microSDHC support, FM radio with RDS, aGPS with turn-by-turn navigation, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and the Symbian S60 5th edition OS. Hopefully once the UK launch is out of the way, Sony Ericsson can start thinking about making these puppies a reality here in the US, or maybe even getting a move on with the XPERIA X3.

Where the heck was this thing during Nokia World? Some interesting images popped up in the Flickr stream of mobile video game and UI designer Marcelo Eduardo over the past few days. A few images of the just-announced Nokia N900… An iPod touch… An N97… Oh yeah, and a shot of an unannounced Nokia handset sporting a 12.1 megapixel camera. Now of course we cannot verify the authenticity of the shot but it’s only logical that Nokia, disputed king of the camera phone, is working on a higher resolution shooter to catch up to the likes of Sony Ericsson. Beyond the carbon fiber-look battery cover (classy) and the clear presence of “12.1 megapixel” on the back, we really have no details about this handset — which brings us to the one stand-out oddity here. Nokia’s higher-resolution camera phones are typically not overly subtle in conveying the presence of sweet optics.The N86 8MP for example, has “Carl Zeiss – Tessar 2.4-4.8/4.7 – Wide-Angle Lens – 8MP/AF” printed on the lens cover. Perhaps this is an early prototype without the finishing touches present, or perhaps Nokia is going a different route with this little guy. Or, you know, the pic might be fake.

UPDATE: Eduardo updated the title of his image to confirm that this is, in fact, a fake.

Mmmmmmm, Satio. If Symbian is your thing, it pretty much doesn’t get any better than this forthcoming beast from Sony Ericsson. Hell, even if Symbian isn’t your thing, you still have to respect this monster of a handset. While the ever-mysterious Xperia X3 (aka Rachael) still sits at the top of our list of Sony Ericsson kit we need ASAP, the Satio comes in at a close second. Why? If you weren’t paying attention back in May when SE announced it, allow us to refresh your memory: S60 5th Edition OS, 3.5-inch 640 x 360 pixel 16:9 touchscreen display, 12.1 megapixel camera with auto-focus, xenon flash and 12x digital zoom, 128 MB internal memory, microSDHC support, FM radio with RDS, aGPS with turn-by-turn navigation, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and plenty more. Yeah, that’s why. The first iteration of the Satio just cleared the FCC’s initial round of testing so we’re crossing our fingers extra tight with the hope that it materializes soon. Hit the jump for some gratuitous phone pr0n.